Placeless

Coming off of last night I'm still in a very insecure moment right now, so please bear with me.

While at the Walt Disney Family Museum I read a panel discussing Walt's doubts about whether or not he would make it when he first moved to Hollywood. He was quoted as saying that he feared that he was getting into the business too late, like the business was already established and he wouldn't be able to break into it or find a place for himself. Now obviously, things worked out for him. But I read that and thought, Wow, that's exactly how I've been feeling since I've been in college. I try to ignore it, but this question has been popping into my head more frequently as graduation nears:

Is there really room for everyone to follow their dreams, become successful, and be happy?

Sometimes it seems like all the good spots are taken, everything great has already been done, and the rest of us have shown up so late for the party that we just can't even get in. It seems like we'll just have to settle for what we can get. But I really don't want to settle.

Being my age, in college, and on social media, I hear and see a lot of the same ideas that are meant to inspire and encourage people. Rise and Grind. Anything worth having is worth working hard for. If you give all you've got, something is bound to happen for you. Never give up! But no one wants to acknowledge the reality that there are plenty of people out there who have done all the "right things", and still end up average. Disappointed. Failures, even. I mean, that's life right? That's how things have always happened. Not everyone is going to get exactly (or anything close to) what they want.

Forgive me for sounding cynical or pessimistic here, but what if a lot of us are just fooling ourselves into believing that we will be the lucky ones, the exceptional, the shining stars who demonstrate to the world what's not impossible?

Sometimes I sit and think about all of these overwhelming ideas and (im)possibilities, all these unfavorable odds, all this uncertainty, and I wonder, Well what am I here for, then? Where do I fit?